Skill Level 2Occupations at Skill Level 2 typically involve the performance of tasks such as operating machinery and electronic equipment; driving vehicles; maintenance and repair of electrical and mechanical equipment; and manipulation, ordering and storage of information

Skill Level 3Occupations at Skill Level 3 typically involve the performance of complex technical and practical tasks that require an extensive body of factual, technical and procedural knowledge in a specialized field.

Skill Level 4Occupations at Skill Level 4 typically involve the performance of tasks that require complex problem-solving, decision-making and creativity based on an extensive body of theoretical and factual knowledge in a specialized field.

PROFESSIONAL GROUP CHARACTERISTICS AND SIMILAR OCCUPATIONS

Printing trades’ workers compose and set type prior to printing, set up and operate printing presses, bind and finish printed products, and prepare stencils and operate screen printing equipment

Pre-press Technicians

Printers

Print Finishing and Binding Workers

Press operator

Feeder operator (printing)

Screen printer

Textile printer

Background Information

Employment in printing and related support activities has been on the decline since the late 1990s. Traditional printing methods are experiencing difficulties due to the dominance of the digital technologies. Increasingly people are accessing the digital versions of newspapers and magazines available on the internet and keep most of their documents in the cloud or in digital storage. Policies to reduce paper use also have an indirect influence on this change. Alongside this, printing has also undergone a marked evolution with the emergence of smart printers. The printing devices are increasingly autonomous and able of complex printing tasks. Finally, entertainment industry has embraced fully the digital world, were most of advertising is occurring and is slowly moving away from print invitations, posters, banners etc. instead embracing TVs, projectors et al. Finally, a decline in print newspapers and magazines also means a decline for printing workers (Boston, 2014)

CASE EXAMPLES

Case example 1

Case example 2

Case example 3

Case example 1

“Clickable Paper™ is an interactive print solution that uses image recognition software to connect printed materials to digital content. It allows you to add up to 6 links to one or more hotspots on any piece of printable material, and then assign rich media results like websites, video and e-commerce portals to each link. You can also enable mobile devices to take actions like making a phone call, opening a map or sending an email or tweet.“

Case example 2

Because of increasing environmental and sustainability goals, the paper and printing industries have increasingly looked to robotic automation to help them meet production demands. These robots provide paper and printing manufacturers with a wide range of material handling, packaging and palletizing systems that increase productivity and reduce overall operating costs.

Case example 3

Printbox is a self-service kiosk for printing, copying and scanning documents. Using is simple and done via touch screen.